Some perspective from Anthony Dion

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UFC Fighter rankings: Heavyweight division

What can you say that hasn’t already been said about “the Natural”? The guy is a beast and has an incredible heart, he’s so smart, and always executes his gameplan to perfection. At this point in time I think he can beat anyone including Fedor.

1. Andrei Arlovski — I still think he is the top contender just because of his skill set and his explosiveness. He’s a dangerous opponent for anybody but for some reason has a tough time against Tim Sylvia. It appears he’s still in limbo because of his contract situation but with the status of the UFC 78 card in November (status being that it blows) if you’re UFC management you need to get this guy an extension ASAP and lined up for UFC 78 with an opponent like Noguiera or Kongo or even Cro Cop.

2. Antonio Noguiera — beat Heath Herring rather unspectacularly mind you, but did win nonetheless and with all of these other disastrous Pride fighter debuts occurring around us, I think you have to be somewhat satisfied with the win. His talent is documented and undeniable with an excellent ground game and solid striking, until he loses he sits here.

3. Tim Sylvia — As much as I hate this guy and watching him fight hurts me even more, he is a tougher fighter and whether that be skill or just a byproduct of his size is up for debate. Regardless of all of that however, he was a dominant title holder for about a year before Couture came along and tore him up. Let’s see what happens against Brandon Vera (who I think tears him up and makes me incredibly happy).

4. Cheick Kongo — Has defeated Assuerio Silva and Cro Cop in his past two fights and has looked like a beast in doing so. He’s a bad mf’er and I sure as hell wouldn’t want to have to stand in the octagon with this dude. And just to make him even more scary — he’s got Juanito as a trainer in Rampage’s camp and rest assured they’re working on his ground game.

5. Brandon Vera — You can’t deny the talent and the ability and what he did before he took the long absence. I think he deserves this spot more than the guys knocking on the door of the top five.